The 2036 Olympics will be the 100th anniversary of the Hitler Games.
Political and business leaders in Berlin, Germany want to bring the Summer Olympics to town in 2036. That could be a massive problem for the International Olympic Committee as 2036 will be the 100th anniversary of the Hitler Games, the event that legitimized Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich on the global stage. The debate on the bid has been taking place for years as Berlin Olympic proponents have been looking at a 2036 bid. Some in Berlin have no problem with a 100th anniversary event while others want no part of bidding for the 2036 event and would prefer waiting until 2040. There will be no 100th anniversary problem in 2040 as there was no 1940 Summer Olympics after Hitler invaded Poland on September 1st, 1939 and a war broke out in Europe.
Berlin’s Sports Minister Iris Spranger said the city wants to bid for the 2036, the 2040 or the 2044 Games. But a 2036 bid is problematic. The mayor of Berlin knows that. Mayor Kai Wegner told the Associated Press that history is history. “I believe that the Games of 2036, regardless of where they take place, will also focus on the Nazi Games of 1936. That is part of history and will be given attention. I must tell you that I am proud to be the mayor of a city that has changed over the past 100 years; that no longer tolerates dictatorship, exclusion or mass violence, but instead, Berlin is now a cosmopolitan and international metropolis, a colorful and diverse city.” In 2019, Berlin’s Interior Minister Andreas Geisel floated the notion of bidding for the 2036 Olympics with the thought that it would be a good opportunity to show how the event was used for propaganda purposes. Germany’s Interior Minister Horst Seehofer threw cold water on the notion. The IOC has other bidders for the 2036 event.
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